Research on family physicians' perspectives on climate change and their awareness and sensitivity to its health impacts

Introduction: Climate change, which has extensive effects on our planet's ecosystem, human health, and social structures, represents one of the serious issues of our era. It is known to be a broad and comprehensive situation affecting water resources, ecosystems, food production, and human health. The aim is to measure and increase the awareness and sensitivity of family physicians to the wide range of problems caused by climate change and their health impacts. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was executed at the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University. It involved a survey with 43 items using a five-point Likert scale and questionnaire of sociodemographic data which was administered to 401 family physicians across Turkey. Results: It was observed that the participants were highly knowledgeable about climate change and aware of its health, environmental, societal, global, and regional impacts, as well as the outcomes and preventive measures related to these impacts. An increase in knowledge and awareness levels was observed among participants in areas other than health effects, correlated with increases in age, years of practice, and professional title. Conclusion: The participants were found to be more informed about the health impacts of climate change than its environmental and global/regional effects; it is considered important for public health and management policies in medical and community education to give more space to climate change, which would enhance societal awareness and planetary health. Keywords: Climate change, family physician, public health.